I just started wakeboarding this summer. Before this, I didn't have anything to do with water besides showering. I watched Detention Vol. 1 and have been playing around in the water. I have no problem getting up, carving x'ing wake. I have been taking it a little slow (translation: I am big chicken). When I ollie, I can't seem to get a whole lot of air. Any help with this would be appreciated. Also, would you recommend starting with 180's or w2w jumps next. Jesi

Jessica do you do wake jumps? If you don't get much air off the wake, you probably aren't going to get much air when you ollie. In terms of the ollie and getting more air, really emphasize the beginning of the trick with putting weight on your front foot, then when you release off the back of the board, you should get more air. Hope that helps.

I always tell everyone who is starting out to try jumping from the inside of the wake out. This is to get down the motion of jumping the wake. You are going to want to edge out make sure to bend your knees and as you are about to hit the wake fully extend your legs. Do this from the inside out, and then take it wake to wake. What most beginners do is try to jump the wake, but their knees bend when they hit the wake, absorbing all the pop. I would also read on how to take a good progressive edge as this is one of the most important aspects of wakeboarding.

Thank you. I have gotten a little air jumping from the inside of the wake. I think part of it may be the boat. A sunsetter lxi. It's fun to ride behind, but it doesn't have a really big wake, even with the wedge down. When you're doing an ollie do you put more wieght on your front or back foot first?

A sunsetter lxi is a fine boat, don't worry about that. You want to start by riding normal, then put a lot of weight on your front foot and kind of push into the water. After that shift your weight to your back foot and kind of bring up your front knee, followed by your back knee. At this point you should be in the air, and you really shouldn't be thinking this much about it because it happens fairly quickly. You should go through the motions on dry land a few times but you shouldn't think about it too much. It is really the rhythm as you transfer your weight on the board and then the release off the water which gets you in the air.